The effects of midwives' job satisfaction on burnout, intention to quit and turnover: a longitudinal study in Senegal

Public sector midwives in Senegal play a key role in tackling maternal mortality. This study aims to explore their job satisfaction and its effects on their burnout, intention to quit and professional mobility.

The paper finds that Senegalese midwives are dissatisfied with their working conditions and remuneration, and suffer from extremely high levels of emotional exhaustion and high levels of de-personalisation. This likely stems from the long working hours and challenging working conditions in which they practice midwifery. The authors argue that these observations should be further explored, as elevated levels of exhaustion at work could have serious impacts on midwives’ physical health and the their work quality.

The study finds that despite midwives' unhappiness with their working conditions, they retain a strong sense of confidence and accomplishment in their work.

The study concludes that: 

• midwives seem to be unlikely to leave the country for work and thus not contributing to the Senegalese “brain drain”
• reasons behind the unexpectedly high levels of interest in and effective departures from the midwifery profession should be further explored
• policies and interventions aiming to retain the productive mobile midwives should emphasise continuing education and professional opportunities within the profession
• an opportunity exists for collaboration between specific country-based and international entities to help improving emergency obstetric care while reducing turnover.